We have continuing battles in GT Daytona as the #25 GT Le Mans BMW M8 GTE pits. They are changing tires and drivers, and adding fuel. Bruno Spengler sharing with Connor De Philippi and Colton Herta. Lexus #12 also in the pit lane as have Townsend Bell now at the wheel of it. Penske Acura and Action Express are also in the pit lane. The #31 Cadillac, Gabby Chaves staying in the car. Routine stop for the AXR boys. BMW #24 in the lane as well, and so is the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Oliver Gavin is starting what will be his final race as a Corvette driver. He will retire at the end of this race. Augusto Farfus now at the controls of the #24 BMW M8 GTE. The Brazilian sharing with Finland's Jesse Krohn and American John Edwards.
Wright Motorsports in the lane, they don't have enough grip. But they want to be in the hunt at the end of the motor race. Heylen/Hardwick/Long, the driving trio. Horses for courses. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Earl Bamber is doing a double stint in the #911 Porsche and he will swap to the #912 Porsche later on. Gar Robinson in the #74 Mercedes is running third in class in GT Daytona. The track here at Sebring has lost grip and it is greasy out there, mate. Corvette #3 in the lane for service. A driver changer from Antonio Garcia over to Jordan Taylor. Colton Herta, again, is driving the #25 BMW. This race isn only just getting started. The Mazda's are very jarring to drive compared to the Acura's and Cadillac's.
We see the #10 WTR Cadillac with Ryan Briscoe staying in the car, in for fuel and fresh Michelin tires. They are the first to blink, and this is their fourth overall pit stop. Mazda #77 is second overall and they were first off pit lane in that race. Cadillac #31 and Mazda #55 have stayed out on track. Drivers are doing their best to manage the heat and the fatigue. 12 hours here at Sebring is just as draining as 24 hours anyplace else. A Full Course Yellow, on the road, for debris. DPi pit stops as we are under yellow. We are seeing Penske and Action Express both in the lane. Penske done. #31 is in. They have to nail the stop as Felipe Nasr is into the car, replacing Gabby Chaves.
On the pit stop exchange, the #10 Cadillac is now in the lead. We are under yellow, still. Pit lane is open for GTD cars and we have trouble for the #912 Porsche. Electrical troubles, necessitate changing the ECU, the Engine Control Unit. All the GT contenders are in the lane, or most. The #12 AVS Lexus chooses to stay out, and so Townsend Bell picks up the class lead in GT Daytona. Porsche #912 is pitting and we watch that happen. Again, they are changing the Engine Control Unit. We are headed for a restart, ladies and gentlemen.
Next time around, we will restart this motor race. The #11 Lamborghini, leading GT Daytona, has trouble. There could be an axle issue on the car after their pit stop. The car fired up, but died and lost power after their pit stop. Trouble for Steijn Schothorst, Franck Perera, and Richard Heistand. That's part of the havoc of the bumps. We are ready for the restart. Here we go again. Briscoe, Montoya, and Scott Andrews. Tristan Vautier is up there, Tristan Nunez, Harry Tincknell, and Felipe Nasr are right in the fight. Tincknell passes Nunez, look.
Briscoe and Montoya have raced each other in open wheel cars. Tincknell almost pushes Nunez into the grass! Yikes! Felipe Nasr, seventh in class, has to move up, if they want to win the title, they need to win. Meanwhile, the #6 Acura of Juan Pablo Montoya, Dane Cameron, and Simon Pagenaud, they have nothing to lose. Jordan Taylor has been passed by both Earl Bamber and Augusto Farfus. Colton Herta is pushing, and he gets biffed, by Oliver Gavin. Jordan Taylor does not have the pace and he is backing up the rest of the GT Le Mans field, with his hands full with the #23 GT Daytona Aston Martin.
In GT Daytona, the two Lexus cars lead. Townsend Bell leads Kyle Kirkwood at the moment. #4 and #25 had contact in turn seven, and the clag on the tires caused a bit of that, as our old buddy, David Hobbs likes to call it. Corvette #4 looks to be headed for the lane, and he is indeed as we have a Lexus in the wall in Sunset Bend. Corvette in the lane as well, with smoke pouring from the car. Both of these cars have had trouble. Four cars came to a stop. The #30, #16, #12, and #14. #12 entered a closed pit. Townsend Bell spins, and right behind him, there's fluid down, and they spin off the road. There's fluid pouring out of the Corvette #4.
There's trouble for Oliver Gavin. We saw both Lexus RC F GT3's spin, and the radiator is being repaired on Lexus #12. For their sister car, they ran into the wall. He is being towed back after slamming the concrete wall, hard! Aaron Telitz was a championship contender. It looks like the right rear and the left rear of the #14. The suspension and bodywork are crunched. The Wright Motorsports Porsche and Hardpoint Audi probably spun in sympathy. We stay under yellow to clean all the junk off the track at the moment.
We are nearly three hours into this race. Again, we are under yellow due to the fluid pouring from the Corvette and the accidents for the two Lexus cars. No warning. Your windscreen is covered in water. It looks like game over for AVS Lexus. They are not totally out, but they might need to really do a lot of work. #12 should be fine. #14 is busted, and dusted, perhaps. It might be binned.
No comments:
Post a Comment